Very early Saturday morning, at 1:06 AM, before his ill-fated vacation to Camp David was cut short later that day, Donald Trump posted an ominous and deeply troubling video that few people even saw. Filled with fear-filled messaging, it opens with a dark and eerie image of the White House before quickly moving to Donald Trump rising from the shadows just as the narrator says, “Sometimes in history, there’s this magic moment. Somebody appears on the scene and everything changes.”
From there, the video immediately pushes to show Trump’s political rise as a biblical calling and a divine destiny. “This was a man who’s met his destiny. He said he was saved by God in order to make America great again.”
Within those words, Trump’s voice can be heard in the background saying, “I am with you. I will fight for you.” Making him sound steady, humble, and powerful.
The rest of the video told an even greater story of the sanitizing of Donald Trump’s time in the Oval Office: “This president will go down in history as a peacemaking president. Peace through strength. America’s in charge.”
It continues by declaring Donald Trump’s return to the White House a defining moment in the entire existence of the United States, something larger than politics itself: “His victory was the greatest comeback of all time. You’re watching history, so buckle up.”
It ends with a promise that felt more like a warning: “My fellow Americans, get ready for an incredible future because the golden age of America has only just begun.”
The timing of this video, and what it was trying to accomplish, tells a very different story from what is really happening. The message was that he is strong, steady, and completely in control, when what is really happening is that his presidency is struggling through one crisis after another. His incompetence and actual ability to lead through a moment of crisis is obvious to many more now; he and his enablers are working around the clock to create and distribute propaganda designed to project the aura of success that reality simply cannot.
It didn’t take long after that video was posted to see his lack of leadership skills play out once again. Later that evening, Donald Trump would be urgently whisked away back to the White House, with very little notice, a day early from his weekend away at Camp David. With the Middle East erupting amid the escalation of Trump’s Iranian war, the sudden move looked somehow related.
On Sunday morning, just hours after he had abruptly returned to Washington to handle whatever had spooked him the night before, it became clear that it was not important enough for him to miss a day of playing golf. Because at 8:53 AM, the president of the United States was on his way to one of his own personal courses in Sterling, Virginia, to hit golf balls.
He did take a small break at some point to give a quick interview to Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst to say that he was in a “deciding mode” in regard to the war in Iran and that “very big things are going to be happening in the not-so-distant future.” He told Yingst that there are three options on the table: “wiping Iran out, letting them rot economically, or making a deal.” He then said this: “My question is, if and when do I blow the entire nation up? They better behave.”
When Yingst asked whether this weekend felt different given the embassy alerts and the escalation happening across the region, Trump said it was “no different from any other weekend.”
Later that evening, Donald Trump was back at the White House and posting on his social media account. At 5:37 PM, he shared an image on Truth Social of himself peering over a globe focused on Greenland and the Western Hemisphere with large red letters that said, “His Hemisphere.”
We may never know what actually transpired over this weekend. If there was a true crisis playing out even worse than the one we can see, or if this was just Donald Trump wanting to go golfing. But the reality is that there is an actual crisis. The world is destabilizing at an increasing rate, and Donald Trump has completely checked out. He went golfing instead of trying to fix the mess that he created. The contrast to times when past presidents had to hold the peace and carry the enormous weight of preventing an already dangerous crisis from spiraling into something far worse is sadly clear.
Although before my time, the Cuban Missile Crisis was a period of history I paid special attention to. I can remember my grandparents and my parents talking about what that was like, both as mothers and fathers and also as children. It left lasting imprints on so many. I think about how President Kennedy faced that moment in October of 1962 vs. how Donald Trump would. And thinking about this again right now, no doubt this is playing on a loop in my mind because of Donald Trump’s latest push this past week to place his name on the building that stands as a memorial to President Kennedy.
During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the stakes were very different, as was the threat, but that moment in time showed what seriousness looks like in a president who understands the gravity of the power he holds. Kennedy convened his advisors around the clock for 13 days. He even listened to people who disagreed with him. He weighed every option knowing that a wrong move could kill millions of people, and he let that fear make him more careful, not more reckless like Donald Trump often does. During one of the most tense times of the crisis, there is a well-known account of an aide who saw Kennedy standing in the doorway of the Oval Office, as his young son, John Jr., pushed a toy fire truck across the carpet. The aide later described him as “a man carrying the weight of the world.” Kennedy was no doubt watching his own child play and understanding, deep down in his soul, that if he made a wrong decision, it could take moments like that from every family in the country.
I thought about what it means to lead with that kind of pressure surrounding you and, if done right, how it changes you. I went to a place in my mind where I considered other past presidents and how they have carried the weight of the office, during the good and the trying times. Donald Trump has never once acted with humility or an understanding of, or care for, how his decisions and policies actually affect real people. In all these years, we have never seen him act from a place of empathy. He does not care, no matter what propaganda he or his administration shares.
When my husband was in the hospital, he just wanted to get home to see “his girls,” aka our daughters and pets. He just wanted us all to be together. When he was finally released and we were back together, he just lit up. There was so much joy and love. This is not unique to me or my family. This is a universal feeling that so many of us have known and treasure. And yet we have never seen or heard anything even close to that with Donald Trump. When he speaks about his family, it sounds methodical and forced.
Maybe that is why I keep coming back to that video he shared, the Fox interviews, and what it really means to carry the weight of the presidency. Because the decisions made inside the Oval Office never stay there. They eventually find their way into our lives in large ways and in the most basic ways. When a president makes a decision about war, the consequences are ultimately carried by all of the American people, including military families who want nothing more than to be home with the people they love.
What we know right now about the Iran war and whatever else made Trump rush back to the White House is still most likely very little of what is really happening behind closed doors. The danger we are in is elevated by having a president who does not care about the truth, and who has filled every position that should be advising him and doing the critical work of keeping Americans safe with people who are equally incompetent, compromised, and indifferent to the consequences of their actions.
Tomorrow, Donald Trump heads to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, where the Iranian President, the leader of the nation he said he was considering obliterating, will also be in attendance. He will meet with Gulf leaders, and later this week, Chinese President Xi Jinping is coming to the White House for a state dinner on Thursday, followed by a tour of the National Archives on Friday. Tomorrow, his schedule shows meetings with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and French President Emmanuel Macron. We can only hope that Donald Trump can muster some restraint and seriousness as he represents us on the world stage. I have no doubt we will have much to talk about tomorrow and in the days that follow.
There are 44 days until the midterms. Congress was sent home early by Speaker Johnson before they could vote on impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, formally challenge the war in Iran, and avoid Representatives from having to put their names behind the Epstein 2.0 bill. He saw the writing on the wall and had very real concerns that these votes would be terrible for Donald Trump, the Republican Party, and Pete Hegseth. Donald Trump is locking out members of the press who are holding to their journalistic standards and not bending to his demands to share only positive coverage of him. The next chance Americans have to change the direction of this country comes in November, and the stakes could not be higher.
Although nothing is guaranteed in this moment, history tells us Americans do the right thing, eventually. Donald Trump continues to grow more unpopular by the day. This week will most likely bring even more embarrassment to our country and infuriate those that we used to call our friends and allies. We need to keep talking about what is happening, and remind the people around us that none of this is normal and none of it has to be permanent. We can, and we will, change the trajectory of our country with our votes. That is why I still have hope for America. And you should, too.
I’ll see you tomorrow,
Heather
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This commentary represents my personal opinions and analysis of matters of public concern, informed by publicly available information. Any references to individuals constitute opinion and commentary protected under the First Amendment.
Picture of the day: We lost Pete’s headphones somewhere between the hospital and home, so we headed to the mall to pick up a new pair. I stopped for a couple of minutes to make sure I wasn’t missing anything major in Trump world, and Pete took this picture. Not pictured: me frowning when I was actually looking at Trump news.
Links to sources used in writing this article:
Trump in ‘deciding mode’ on Iran, says ‘very big things’ are coming: Fox News Video
https://www.aol.com/articles/donald-trump-shares-night-cinematic-130428000.html
https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/trump-cuts-weekend-trip-camp-163248159.html
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/6100347-trump-speculates-iran-war/
https://www.trumpstruth.org/statuses/41818
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-80-hints-at-next-bonkers-move-in-ominous-truth-social-post/
It’s a lovely picture Heather and nice to see you relaxed and smiling in flip flops in the sunshine.
Trump has a degenerate disease and in any other world he would be being cared for and looked after. Instead the bully that he is, he is manipulating everyone around him and being allowed to plummet USA into chaos.
Our very new untried Prime Minister Andy Burnham is set to meet Trump this week, I am watching this space. Straight speaking Northener who takes no prisoners should be interesting !
Also Mandani - Mr Trump this is the guy who is making headway in New York and not busy lining his pockets with gold and making a mess of his country’s finance or causing wars and guess what Mr Trump he is a Muslim. Not that this makes a difference to who he is, it’s just a good and wonderful man making a difference to peoples lives in New York !!
I wish you could see me, shaking my head in either disbelief or negative-sensory overload.